HOUSTON - The University of Houston softball team posted a 6-1 win over Northwestern State Wednesday evening at Cougar Softball Stadium.

Powered by Haley Outon's three-run homer in the third, Houston quickly overturned a one-run deficit after the first inning by scoring five runs over the next two frames to secure their victory.

"I was proud of how we stayed inside of ourselves and didn't try to do too much," said head coach Kyla Holas. "We gave up a run early and we worked to get one run back at a time."

The Cougars capitalized in the second inning after a pair of Lady Demon miscues gave Houston extra base runners. With Outon and Jennifer Klinkert reaching first on errors, junior Holly Anderson short hopped the fence for a double to score Outon, and Klinkert came around to home on Kayla Holland's single up the middle.

Jaime Edwards and Melissa Gregson served as place setters as the duo picked up a pair of singles in back-to-back at bats before Outon came to the plate. Outon connected on her team leading sixth home run of the year to open up the game for Houston. The long ball was a no-doubt shot, hitting Scott Street as it continued to roll as Outon rounded the bases.

Bailey Watts pitched in relief for freshman Ty'ara Law after Law struggled with defensive assignments in the opening inning. Watts pitched the next 6.1 innings to pick up her fourth win of the year and second in a row.

"I was frustrated by her (Law) defensive focus," said head coach Kyla Holas. "If you give up balls in play, you have to be able to filed we can't afford to have those types of plays. Lack of focus is something we can't tolerate."

Watts was able to get the third out of the inning after Northwestern State scored from third on a pitch in the dirt near the batter's box.

Sydney Gerbracht added an insurance run in the sixth inning as she delivered a sacrifice fly to deep left center field with the bases loaded. It was the eighth RBI of the year for the redshirt freshman, with all of the RBIs coming off pinch hit opportunities.

The Cougars improved to 12-13 on the year as Northwestern State fell to 10-14.

UP NEXT
Houston continues their homestand this weekend as they face C-USA rival UTEP for a conference series. The two teams battle on Saturday at 1 and 3 p.m. before Sunday's finale at noon.